


Of Orange Peels and Comfy Sweaters

by paintedunlady



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Fluff, M/M, Nonverbal Communication, Platonic Cuddling, Stimming, both of them are on the autism spectrum- chanyeol somewhat more so, neurodivergent characters, nonverbal chanyeol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 14:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10164557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedunlady/pseuds/paintedunlady
Summary: just a short little thing about chansoo being cuddly and sleepy and stimming together





	

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this right here](http://dearshixuns.tumblr.com/post/153096326670/autistic-yeol-who-absolutely-adores-the-sensory), kyungsoo's nail biting habit, and pcy's general love of being pet

It’s not often that Kyungsoo gets time to himself- much less the entire dorm. He’d been napping after an exhausting dance rehearsal when Joonmyun had come into his room and gently shaken him awake, whispering that the rest of them were going out to dinner before their late-night radio broadcast and asking if he wants to come along. The offer had been tempting, but the fatigue pulling at every fiber of his body had beaten out his hunger.

“I’ll bring you back something then,” Joonmyun had said at his mumbled refusal, his fingers combing through Kyungsoo’s bangs to lull him back to sleep. “We’ll be back in a couple hours.”

Kyungsoo had shivered at the gentle scrape of Joonmyun’s nails against his head and was already unconscious by the time the other slipped out of the room.

He’d woken up again not too long afterwards, nature calling him too strongly for him to ignore any longer, and found himself wandering down the halls instead of returning to his bedroom afterwards. A restless itch had suddenly settled beneath his skin, spreading up through his arms and on to his entire body and spurring him into his useless wandering. He bites his nails.

Nothing seemed appealing- not going back to bed, not getting something to eat, not watching TV- but he grabs an orange from the kitchen and settles on the couch anyway, turns on the TV and mutes it anyway, teeth unconsciously working at the stumpy fingernails he has left on one hand while the other falls to peel the orange on his lap. The bumpy rind is firm under his touch but yielding, just enough give to dig his nails into and pull off piece after piece. Citrus bursts into the room with every tiny fragment he pulls loose, but he doesn’t particularly pay attention to it. He switches hands.

Whatever show playing on the television doesn’t even remotely hold his interest, his mind buzzing with a dull hum as his eyes go carefully unfocused and his orange peel nears its end. He doesn’t even want the fruit inside. He contemplates getting another one.

Just before he can stand up to throw the remnants of the peel away, another presence joins him in the room and stumbles into his blurry peripheral vision, the dull blue light from the television lighting up his rumpled hair and oversized clothes in somber flashes.

“Can’t sleep?” Kyungsoo asks without averting his eyes from the screen, and from the corner of his eye the other nods, brown curls fluttering around his face at the movement and flopping when he settles beside Kyungsoo on the couch.

Kyungsoo had holed up on the very edge of the sofa, body wedged into the corner and buried into the cushions for some sense of strange security he didn’t quite understand, some kind of barrier and physical support all at the same time, but Chanyeol spreads out when he lays down, only his too-long legs tucked up underneath him as he pillows his head on Kyungsoo’s thigh and shoves his toes into the gap between the cushions. Chanyeol doesn’t say a word, but Kyungsoo knows what he wants- on some plane knows that Chanyeol _can’t_ really say it as the top of his head nudges Kyungsoo’s forearm and his hands bury themselves somewhere away in his sweatshirt.

Kyungsoo himself isn’t really sure how he knows, but his shredded orange peel finds a new home on the coffee table while his fingers find a new home in Chanyeol’s messy curls, his dulled, citrus covered nails gently scratching across Chanyeol’s scalp and brushing through his hair as the other practically melts into him.

The restlessness is still there, ticking and clicking just beneath his skin no matter how tired he feels, but it recedes a bit as he drags his fingers across Chanyeol’s skin, aimless patterns soothing _him_ as much as it is Chanyeol as his hand wanders down to the older boy’s nape and scratches there too. The drag sends pleasant tingles up through his arms that spread to the rest of his body, warm and soothing and calming to the itch in his nerves as Chanyeol shivers under his touch and tightens his arms around his own waist.

Kyungsoo moves his other hand to start combing through Chanyeol’s bangs too, scratching behind his ear and tugging ever so slightly on the curve of it before rubbing the cartilage between his fingers. He almost expects Chanyeol's leg to start twitching.

Instead, the older man breathes out a deep, contented sigh and goes completely boneless under Kyungsoo’s ministrations, his lips parting and closed eyelids fluttering in time with the scratches against his scalp. He shivers when Kyungsoo hits a particularly good spot, but doesn’t make a sound, just guides Kyungsoo’s hands with lazy turns of his head and basks in the attention.

He’s seen Chanyeol run around the apartment bragging about how soft his new conditioner has made his hair and demanding the other members feel for themselves, or purposely messing up his bangs just before Joonmyun walks into the room and inevitably fixes it with a fond smile, but with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol doesn’t ever need an excuse. On some level they both understand that the buzzing at the tips of Kyungsoo’s fingers is akin to the tingle Chanyeol feels across his scalp, knows that neither of them have to fill the silence with anything other than the soft drag of fingers across skin as they both focus on nothing in particular.

Kyungsoo isn’t quite sure how long he slept, isn’t sure that Chanyeol slept at all, but he knows Joonmyun and the others will probably be back soon with food for the two that stayed behind before they’re all ushered off to their next schedule.

The others will be tipped off by Chanyeol’s lack of verbal greeting when they come through the door and the way he stays tightly wrapped around himself (or a pillow or sweater or Kyungsoo) instead of flopping around like normal- will probably be more than willing to offer a scratch or two (or twenty, in Jongin’s case) through Chanyeol’s hair, but for now, it’s nice to have just the two of them. It’s nice for Kyungsoo to not have to worry about the need to retreat into his room again if things get too loud, nicer still to have Chanyeol warm and pliant under his fingernails instead of a lifeless orange or the gnashing of his own teeth.

The members are indulgent at best and respectful at worst, but the two of them are more than content in the silence of the dark living room, basking in the emptiness of the airwaves with no other person’s presence in the dorm. Truthfully, Kyungsoo has always liked this best, and maybe, selfishly, he wants to stay like this for just a little bit longer.


End file.
